AVEVA (Schneider Electric) Case Studies Wonderware Adds Improved Consistency, Increased Productivity and Higher Quality to the Mix for PVC Compound Fabricator

	Wonderware Adds Improved Consistency, Increased Productivity and Higher Quality to the Mix for PVC Compound Fabricator AVEVA (Schneider Electric)

Wonderware Adds Improved Consistency, Increased Productivity and Higher Quality to the Mix for PVC Compound Fabricator

AVEVA (Schneider Electric)

Technology Category	Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries	Chemicals
Applicable Functions	Discrete Manufacturing Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Process Control & Optimization Predictive Quality Analytics Inventory Management
Services	System Integration Software Design & Engineering Services
Challenge	PVC Compounders LLC, a manufacturer of PVC compounds in pellet form, faced several challenges in their operations. The company operates on a built-to-order model, keeping minimal inventory at their plant. This necessitated daily deliveries of raw materials and careful orchestration of the mixing process to ensure the right ingredients were incorporated at the right time. The company also had to manage extreme temperature fluctuations at their plant site in El Paso, Texas, which could affect the final product. Communication was another challenge, as many of their operators were non-native English speakers. The company's highest priority was ensuring that the recipe for each compound was accurate and consistent, and that plant operators had immediate access to these formulations. Read More
About Customer	PVC Compounders LLC is a manufacturer of PVC compounds in pellet form. The company is headquartered in Kendallville, Indiana and operates a satellite plant in El Paso, Texas. PVC Compounders produces the pellets used by manufacturers of wire and cable, injection molding and extrusion applications, resulting in the end products that we buy. Nearly every car sold in the United States contains flexible PVC made from the pellets produced by PVC Compounders. The company operates on a built-to-order model, keeping minimal inventory at their plant. Large bags containing fillers and other raw materials are delivered daily. Once these materials are in the plant, operators must orchestrate the mixing process to ensure that the right ingredients are brought from the silos and into the mixing line. After mixing, operators manage the cooling process and monitor the finished powder as it moves to the extruder. Each batch is finally formed into pellets, which are shipped out of the plant. Read More
Solution	To address these challenges, PVC Compounders turned to Wonderware, a provider of industrial software solutions. Wonderware Central, a Wonderware authorized distributor, recommended a custom software solution based on the Wonderware System Platform. This platform could be rapidly deployed and integrated with existing systems, providing the capabilities needed by PVC Compounders with scalability for the future. The Wonderware software gave operators end-to-end control of the mixing line, facilitated more efficient batch processing, and provided easy access to accurate formulations in the database. The solution also linked the El Paso plant with the main plant in Indiana, providing a unified environment for visualization of the plant floor, plant history, device communications and automation application integration. The Wonderware Historian module collected and stored complete real-time and historical plant data, giving operators the accurate real-time data they needed to make adjustments to temperatures in the mixing process, the amperage of the mixing equipment and other parameters. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Chemicals

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Process Control & Optimization

Predictive Quality Analytics

Inventory Management

Services

System Integration

Software Design & Engineering Services

Challenge

PVC Compounders LLC, a manufacturer of PVC compounds in pellet form, faced several challenges in their operations. The company operates on a built-to-order model, keeping minimal inventory at their plant. This necessitated daily deliveries of raw materials and careful orchestration of the mixing process to ensure the right ingredients were incorporated at the right time. The company also had to manage extreme temperature fluctuations at their plant site in El Paso, Texas, which could affect the final product. Communication was another challenge, as many of their operators were non-native English speakers. The company's highest priority was ensuring that the recipe for each compound was accurate and consistent, and that plant operators had immediate access to these formulations.

About Customer

PVC Compounders LLC is a manufacturer of PVC compounds in pellet form. The company is headquartered in Kendallville, Indiana and operates a satellite plant in El Paso, Texas. PVC Compounders produces the pellets used by manufacturers of wire and cable, injection molding and extrusion applications, resulting in the end products that we buy. Nearly every car sold in the United States contains flexible PVC made from the pellets produced by PVC Compounders. The company operates on a built-to-order model, keeping minimal inventory at their plant. Large bags containing fillers and other raw materials are delivered daily. Once these materials are in the plant, operators must orchestrate the mixing process to ensure that the right ingredients are brought from the silos and into the mixing line. After mixing, operators manage the cooling process and monitor the finished powder as it moves to the extruder. Each batch is finally formed into pellets, which are shipped out of the plant.

Solution

To address these challenges, PVC Compounders turned to Wonderware, a provider of industrial software solutions. Wonderware Central, a Wonderware authorized distributor, recommended a custom software solution based on the Wonderware System Platform. This platform could be rapidly deployed and integrated with existing systems, providing the capabilities needed by PVC Compounders with scalability for the future. The Wonderware software gave operators end-to-end control of the mixing line, facilitated more efficient batch processing, and provided easy access to accurate formulations in the database. The solution also linked the El Paso plant with the main plant in Indiana, providing a unified environment for visualization of the plant floor, plant history, device communications and automation application integration. The Wonderware Historian module collected and stored complete real-time and historical plant data, giving operators the accurate real-time data they needed to make adjustments to temperatures in the mixing process, the amperage of the mixing equipment and other parameters.

Impact #1	Improved product consistency and reduced scrap
Impact #2	Lower incidence of human error
Impact #3	Better managed inventory

Impact #1

Improved product consistency and reduced scrap

Impact #2

Lower incidence of human error

Impact #3

Better managed inventory

Benefit #1	Less than 1% internal failure
Benefit #2	Reduction in downtime by 15-20%
Benefit #3	Turnaround time for product reduced to less than one week on every order

Benefit #1

Less than 1% internal failure

Benefit #2

Reduction in downtime by 15-20%

Benefit #3

Turnaround time for product reduced to less than one week on every order

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Overview

Wonderware Adds Improved Consistency, Increased Productivity and Higher Quality to the Mix for PVC Compound Fabricator

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit